It Is Not Strange That This Sense Of Filial Duty And Affection Among
The Negroes Should Be Less Ardent Towards The Father Than The
Mother.
The system of polygamy, while it weakens the father's
attachment by dividing it among the children of different wives,
concentrates all the mother's jealous tenderness to one point - the
protection of her own offspring.
I perceived with great
satisfaction, too, that the maternal solicitude extended, not only
to the growth and security of the person, but also, in a certain
degree, to the improvement of the mind of the infant; for one of the
first lessons in which the Mandingo women instruct their children is
THE PRACTICE OF TRUTH. The reader will probably recollect the case
of the unhappy mother whose son was murdered by the Moorish banditti
at Funingkedy. Her only consolation in her uttermost distress was
the reflection that the poor boy, in the course of his blameless
life, HAD NEVER TOLD A LIE. Such testimony from a fond mother on
such an occasion must have operated powerfully on the youthful part
of the surrounding spectators. It was at once a tribute of praise
to the deceased and a lesson to the living.
The negro women suckle their children until they are able to walk of
themselves. Three years' nursing is not uncommon, and during this
period the husband devotes his whole attention to his other wives.
To this practice it is owing, I presume, that the family of each
wife is seldom very numerous.
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